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Ideas for a Colorful Fall Perennial Garden

As warm days continue, and the earlier blooming perennials begin to fade, keep the beauty of your garden alive by adding splashes of color with late blooming perennials. Showcase the brilliant shades of autumn with late summer and fall bloomers, variegated and changing foliage, and wispy texture of ornamental grasses. Some of the most dynamic perennial gardens include a variety of plants that flower at different times of the season, ensuring that something is always in bloom.
 

Combinations of fall blooming perennials are nearly endless…create a brilliant color scheme with deep gold Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), wispy lavender spikes of Russian Sage (Perovskia) and deep pink hardy Asters; opt for a softer combination with variegated leaves of Circle Flower (Lysimachia), pink Coneflowers (Echinacea) and Wormwood/Silvermound’s (Artemesia) silvery foliage.

If your garden includes shrubs and trees, complement their vibrant autumn yellows, reds and oranges with white, pink, purple, orange and silver perennial blooms and foliage. Combine deep maroon flowers and foliage of Stonecrop (Sedum) with creamy white Coneflowers (Echinacea), wand-like golden flowers of Goldenrod (Solidago) and gracefully arching garnet foliage of Virginia Sweetspire (Itea Virginica). Or, create a native combination with the golden feather-like foliage of Blue Star Flower (Amsonia) and large butterfly-attracting pink Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) and rich scarlet Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium) shrubs. For shady gardens, the white blooms of Windflowers (Anemone) and pink Turtlehead (Chelone) spikes go well in combination with the large, deep colored foliage of Coral Bells (Heuchera) and brilliant chartreuse blades of Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa).

The light and airy beauty of ornamental grasses in bloom can also add interest to a fall-blooming garden. As their summer color changes in the early autumn season, choose from red, gold, orange or blue to complement any garden color scheme. Most grasses needn’t be cut down before March allowing you to enjoy the sounds of their seed heads blowing in the autumn breezes, and the look of soft, white snow gently resting on their blades in winter.

Since many late summer and fall blooming perennials are just coming into bloom now, it is a great time to plant. Fill in the empty spaces in your garden as a way to extend the season of your garden for a few extra months and welcome in the fall’s crisp air. Our perennial benches at Reilly’s are in bloom now with a variety of perennials and grasses for both sun and shade gardens. Visit us to create a striking combination that will keep your gardening thumbs green for months to come.

For a Sun Garden:
Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
Blue Star Flower (Amsonia)
Circle Flower (Lysimachia )
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Spurge (Euphorbia)
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Hardy Aster (Aster - various)
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum)
New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Stonecrop (Sedum)
Helenium (Sneezweed)
Tickseed (Coreopsis)
Perennial Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Silvermound (Artemesia)
Ornamental Grasses (Miscanthus, Calamagrastos, Pennisetum)

For a Shade Garden:
Coral Bells (Heuchera)
Foamy Bells (Heucherella)
Joe Pye Weed ‘Chocolate’ (Eupatorium)
Ornamental Grasses (Hakonechloa, Carex)
Turtlehead (Chelone)
Windflower (Japanese Anemone)

 

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